Risky Somerfield Ad Attracts Most Newspaper Coverage

A controversial radio commercial for Somerfield received the most national press coverage during July after sparking a raft of complaints from gay rights campaigners over its use of the word ‘faggot’.

The ad featured a fed-up husband complaining that his wife served up the same meals every week. When she told him it was Friday so he was getting his usual faggots, he replied: “I’ve nothing against faggots, I just don’t fancy them.”

The latest survey from Propeller Communications and Durant Media Monitoring shows that the ad attracted the most column inches in July after being banned by media super-regulator Ofcom for using the word faggots to describe meatballs. Somerfield claimed the ad was nothing more than a comical play on words and many hailed the ban as ridiculous.

A television campaign for Irn-Bru took second place in the survey after drawing similar complaints for mocking transsexuals. The ad, which showed a woman shaving her face in the shower, was banned by Ofcom after being deemed offensive.

Martin Loat, director of Propeller Communications, said: “Controversy continues to be a factor which turns adverts into high profile campaigns. It is rarely clear to what extent the publicity is planned – whether the ad was created with the intention of being banned or whether the brand is genuinely surprised by the ban.”

He added: “What is clear is that banned ad campaigns often make a greater short-term impact on the public consciousness than they would in their natural state. So it is a technique worth noting as it becomes increasingly difficult to achieve stand-out.”

The third most written about advertising campaign last month was Tesco, which attracted a considerable amount of national press coverage after announcing its decision to drop the long-running Dotty character, played by Prunella Scales.

Wall’s took fourth place after courting controversy with an advert for its sausages, which showed a man throwing a dog out of a window, attracted more than 100 complaints from animal rights activists. The RSPCA made a formal complaint to Ofcom, but the commercial was later cleared.

BT came in fifth place due to its signing of Jeremy Clarkson as the new face of its television advertising campaign and Heinz came sixth after reportedly spending more than £5 million redesigning its legendary baked beans tin, which now reads ‘baked beanz’.

FCUK came eighth in July’s Ads That Make News survey after its was revealed that all FCUK ads have to be submitted for approval by the Committee of Advertising Practice after a ruling that French Connection had persistently produced adverts designed to offend.

An anti-smoking campaign produced by the Government, which featured a smoker who died of cancer before being reunited with his daughter, came in at nine and Renault came in at ten due to the inclusion of its catchphrase ‘va va voom’ in the dictionary.

Last month’s Ads That Make News survey showed that the return of beer brand John Smith’s to campaigns fronted by comic Peter Kay proved a wise decision by the brewery with its 30-second ‘no nonsense spots landing the top spot in the poll (see John Smith’s Tops Latest Ads That Make The News Survey).

Propeller Communications: 0870 066 4608 07769 www.propellercom.com

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